Page 43 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Heather

I t was a fairly short walk to Novak’s place. I was grateful for the crisp night air and the opportunity to stretch my legs. Amy hooked her arm around mine and pointed out the various businesses and fixtures of the vampire territory.

“This area, including the square, is called the Heart of Sanguine,” she explained, gesturing around us.

“Rather than divide the territory into cities or towns, they use body parts or organs to refer to different regions. Novak’s family is from the northernmost region called the Crown.

Sapien, the human settlement, is further south in the Ribs. ”

“That’s fascinating. What’s the reason for that?”

“Because Sanguine was born from the body of our goddess, Temkra.” The answer came from Rhain, the huge, long-haired vampire with a permanent scowl, who walked in front of us. “She laid down to die so that vampires, her children, could have a home.”

Rhain didn’t look back at us as he spoke. An awkward silence followed, like I’d committed some social faux paus by asking the question. Cyan, who walked beside him, gave a little nudge to Rhain’s elbow and mouthed something that I couldn’t make out.

“I didn’t mean any disrespect,” I said. “I was just curious.”

The hulking vampire glanced over his broad shoulder at me briefly before muttering, “Never said you did.”

A moment later, I felt Laith’s reassuring squeeze on the back of my neck. “Ignore him. He’s always in a bad mood. Probably needs to get laid.”

“I can hear you,” Rhain groused.

“Good. Take the advice then.” Laith hugged around my chest from behind, dropping his chin to my shoulder. “You never know. You might find your blood mate in the process.”

Rhain grumbled something I couldn’t hear, which made Cyan chuckle.

A few minutes later, we gathered around the front steps of an expensive-looking townhouse. Amy cut through to the front of our group. “No need to ring the bell, guys. Come on in.”

She opened the doors with a key and ushered us into a beautiful, spacious foyer. The wood accents were dark and polished to a high shine. The wall colors were deep greens with a subtle damask pattern. Furnishings were more dark wood with pops of red.

A grand staircase stood directly ahead of the foyer, and Amy called up from the bottom step, “Honey, I’m home!”

“Be right down, akra!” called a warm male voice from the upper level.

I was very curious to know what the owner of this house looked like because goddamn . I couldn’t stop looking at everything.

“Welcome home, Amy. Hungry?”

I turned in the direction of the voice to see a woman in a luxurious open kitchen whisking something in a metal bowl. She looked to be human, in her 40s, and wore the signature white-buttoned coat of a chef.

“No thanks, Jo. Tavia and Bea spoiled me.” Amy rubbed her stomach.

“How about your guests?” The woman looked over her glasses at us. Those were definitely human eyes, a deep brown set in white sclera.

“Thank you for the offer, but we are fine.” Thorne placed a hand on his chest and made a little bow toward the chef.

“I’ll have some cold bites available just in case. Looks like the boss is about to have a meeting.”

My mind was spinning. A rich vampire with a human chef? Was this…normal?

Movement drew my gaze to the figure coming down the stairs. The vampire had hair paler than Laith’s, practically silver, falling past his collarbones. His eyes were the typical blood red, but his skin was darker, a medium brown.

He wore dark slacks that fit him like a glove, and a white buttoned shirt that was slightly rumpled with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.

The casualness of the shirt didn’t make him look sloppy or any less polished.

And, as expected, he was handsome. Especially when his face lit up at the sight of Amy.

“Hi, akra.” He said the foreign word with a flawless rolling r and unique inflection, like it was his native language. “Did you have fun with Bea and Tavia?”

The rest of us might as well have not existed as the couple met in the middle of the stairs with a kiss and embrace.

“I did, but I still missed you.” Amy turned back to our group gathered at the bottom of the stairs, her face flushed and glowing. “Thorne and the others said they had business with you, so they escorted me home.”

“Thank you, Blood ‘til Dawn, for keeping her safe.” Novak made his way down the stairs, his hand clasped around Amy’s.

“It’s an honor.” For once, Thorne’s voice didn’t sound like it was dripping with sarcasm. “She is of our clan as well.”

Hearing that surprised me at first, but it actually made sense. Amy and Tavia seemed as close as sisters, so it seemed natural that Blood ‘til Dawn considered Amy one of their own. That sense of belonging must have felt wonderful.

Novak’s eyes landed on me and gleamed with curiosity. “Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met.” He came forward, his movements lithe as a cat’s. “I’m Novak, head of Blood and Truth.”

All at once, I felt very overwhelmed. It felt like I was being perceived by a prince of foreign nation.

“Ah, hello.” My voice shook slightly, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I kept them flat at my sides. “I’m Heather.”

Laith stepped up to my rescue, chin raised proudly. “Heather is my blood mate.”

Novak’s face broke into a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.

“Really? That’s wonderful.” He slapped Laith’s arm with brotherly affection.

“I’m so happy for you both. Please let me know if you’d like to use Jo, my chef, for your mating ceremony.

She’s incredible. I’ll take care of all the food. It’ll be my gift.”

“Another mating ceremony?” Jo called from the kitchen. “Whether you hire me or not, count me in!”

“Thanks, Novak. That’s really kind.” Laith’s hands came to my shoulders and squeezed. “We’ll keep you posted. It’s pretty new, so we’re figuring things out. Heather is from the human world, you see.”

“Oh, fascinating.” Novak’s eyes returned to me. “Well, welcome to my home and to Sanguine. I hope everything hasn’t been too overwhelming.”

“Thank you,” I said, a bit floored by his graciousness. “Your home is beautiful.”

“I can’t take credit for it.” He chuckled. “My ancestors knew how to make themselves very wealthy. I’m just a nerd with a big house and very tolerant staff.” He drew Amy toward him and put his arm around her shoulders. “And a stunning blood mate.”

Amy rolled her eyes but her grin was entirely smug. “Heather is a scientist in the human world. She came along to offer help on the test results.”

“Really?” Novak’s interest returned to me. “What do you do?”

“My degree is in forensic chemistry,” I said. “I work in a lab that tests evidence from crime scenes.”

“Wow.” Novak crossed his arms and leaned toward me slightly. “One of my degrees is in chemistry as well, but I went the organic route.”

“Ah, that’s the smart-people chem degree,” I said. “I couldn’t get that far into the weeds. Not my bag. I just wanted to run tests and catch bad guys.”

Novak laughed, his eyes twinkling. “I don’t know about smart. I just had a lot of time on my hands. But I’m glad you’re here. We could definitely use a second opinion because some of the results have honestly stumped me.”

“Sure. I’ll do what I can.” I immediately began to relax. In contrast to the grandness of his home, Novak seemed genuine and humble.

I also couldn’t ignore the excited little thrill that lit me up. Puzzling out a scientific problem with a fellow nerd was one of my favorite pastimes. I loved the challenge and collaboration of it.

“Wonderful, thank you.” His gaze lifted to the surrounding vampires. Let’s get started, shall we? If you would all follow me.”

Amy slowly unwound herself from her mate. “I’ll be in the library.”

“Sounds good.” He beamed. “I’ll come down when we’re all done.”

Laith grabbed my hand as we all trailed Novak up the stairs. I glanced at his face and tried to gauge his mood. He’d been pretty quiet during the whole exchange. He met my gaze with a lopsided grin and kissed my temple.

“I can’t wait to see you do your super smart science stuff,” he said, affection and pride in his voice.

“Really?” I didn’t mean to sound so surprised, but it took me aback. Justin always got annoyed when I talked about anything work-related, either to him or others in front of him. He’d said I made him look stupid.

“Hell yeah. It’s awesome that you know this stuff already, but if your knowledge helps us free Kalix?” Laith tucked me into his side, my shoulders fitting comfortable under his arm, and kissed the top of my head. “Blood ‘til Dawn will be in your debt. Forever.”

I hugged around his waist, my cheek finding a comfortable resting spot on his chest. “I’m not a miracle worker. Novak probably knows more than me, but I’ll do my best.”

We filed into a luxurious study filled with more dark, polished wood. A large desk sat in the center of the room. Directly behind it were French doors leading out to a cozy balcony.

“Please, make yourselves comfortable.” Novak gestured to armchairs and couches placed around the study.

Laith sat, so I followed his lead. Cyan, Thorne, and Rhain remained standing.

“All right, so I tested the blood samples from Laith and Cyan’s clothes from the night of the fight.

” Novak leaned against his desk and plucked a single sheet of paper from its surface, looking every bit the posh-but-casual Oxford professor.

If they hired vampires, that is. “Do you want the bad news, good news, or the confusing news first?”

“Bad. Just spit it out.” Thorne held a cigarette between his teeth and lit it, his cheeks hollowing out as he inhaled.

Novak didn’t hesitate. “Kalix has definitely been given draitrium, I’m sorry to say.”

The vampires around me made lots of angry groaning and “ Fuck ”s.

“How bad?” Cyan asked.